A third Friday-afternoon suspension announcement has now come out. This one involves Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong, whom The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala reports will draw a one-game ban for a personal conduct policy violation.
Going into the final season of a three-year, $30MM contract, Armstrong spent his offseason rehabbing an ACL tear sustained in Week 7 last season. Armstrong, 29, will miss Washington’s opener in Philadelphia.
The Commanders removed Armstrong from their active/PUP list last week, giving him more than a month’s worth of practice time as a regular-season onramp. Armstrong had been the Commanders’ highest-paid edge rusher in 2024 and ’25, but the team changed that equation this offseason by giving Odafe Oweh a four-year, $100MM deal ($50.6MM fully guaranteed). Washington also signed K’Lavon Chaisson to a one-year, $11MM deal to further beef up its pass rush.
Armstrong followed Dan Quinn from Dallas to Washington. Formerly an auxiliary rusher behind Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, Armstrong has been reasonably productive in Washington. After a five-sack 2024 season included 14 QB hits, Armstrong tallied 5.5 in seven games. With Armstrong suffering an ACL tear and not signed for 2027, the team acted via the Oweh and Chaisson additions. The Commanders also pursued Trey Hendrickson this offseason.
Fowler outproduced Lawrence in 2024, however, and Oweh’s contract makes him the team’s No. 1 edge rusher this year. Armstrong’s place will be interesting, especially considering Chaisson’s productive 2025 season in New England (7.5 regular-season sacks, three more in the playoffs). No guarantees remain on this deal, though Armstrong’s salary will become guaranteed shortly before Week 1. The seventh-year veteran will, of course, lose out on his Week 1 salary. That amounts to nearly a $506K loss.
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